


Staring Contest

by BrainExhaustionGodStan



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: But also, Character Development, Dadbastian, and as usual, like. if you squint. - Freeform, no beta we die like men, predatory behaviour, rated t for language btw, the tags are chaotic as fuck but it is what it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrainExhaustionGodStan/pseuds/BrainExhaustionGodStan
Summary: Bard just knows Sebastian cannot be trusted....doesn't he?Looking closer, yes and no.
Relationships: Baldroy & Ciel Phantomhive, Baldroy & Sebastian Michaelis, Sebastian Michaelis & Ciel Phantomhive
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Staring Contest

There’s one thing Baldroy is certain of: Sebastian Michaelis,  _ or whatever his true name is _ , cannot be trusted.

There are many ideas floating around that name, some of them are definitely outright _ lies _ , and the rest are nothing but half-truths carefully picked to make most people lower their gaze in the face of secrets too dangerous to reveal. Between living in the dark and letting the truth be the last thing he learns, Bard has chosen ignorance  _ for now _ . Not naivety, though. He refuses to believe a  _ word _ from that filthy mouth. So he observes from a safe distance. Notices a few things.

Lots of people think there’s something wrong with the Phantomhive estate.

He  _ knows _ most of it is because of the Phantomhive  _ butler _ .

* * *

Baldroy is exasperated.

Mey-Rin has somehow lost the glasses that are supposed to stay on her nose at all times. They have been looking for them together for at least twenty minutes when she  _ finally  _ realises they were on the ground all along. As she  _ steps on them _ .

Needless to say, Bard is sent on an errand to go find her spares in her room. He wants to tell her that she shouldn’t just let  _ anyone  _ go there, but he’s too tired to bother at this point.

The search is not successful. He’s ready to leave after ten minutes of hopeless struggle when someone stops him.

“Were you perhaps looking for this, Baldroy?”

_ Of course. Of course it  _ has  _ to be him. _

He mutters his thanks in the most ungrateful way he’s capable of, snatching the glasses from the butler’s hand. Sebastian just smiles, that tiny grin that screams of hours of practice and complete dishonesty, before turning around and leaving.

“If you already knew, why didn’t you give them to her ten minutes ago, huh?  _ Bastard _ .” he says, quietly enough not to be heard.

Bard hears him huff in amusement.

_ Fucking creepy big-eared arsehole. _

* * *

Baldroy does not like many things about many people.

Some people think it’s because he’s a jerk,  _ he  _ would say it’s because he has the kind of instinct that allows him to tell who’s safe to be around based on details and specific behaviours. Certains things are just easier to pick up when you’re used to dealing with shitty people.

So when the earl and his bodyguard-nanny come back from one of their wild adventures, and Bard watches with distrust, he feels pure  _ revulsion _ at what he sees.

The kid looks tired and irritated (...well, even more than usual) as he swats a gloved hand away and leaves, retiring to his bedroom for the evening.

The butler watches him leave, and Bard senses a deep, malevolent, wretched  _ hunger _ in the undivided attention the boy receives.

Baldroy does not like many things about many people, but today he decides that he particularly  _ hates  _ the way Sebastian Michaelis looks at their young master.

* * *

Bard is on an errand again, somehow. Something about his face must scream “volunteer work”, because everyone finds it a bit too easy to dump chores on him last minute. Not that he minds- it  _ does  _ lead to unexpected developments, though.

Today, Tanaka sends him to the rich brat’s office with a pile of paper big enough to make him wonder if it’s ten copies of the bible. He does the job well enough, and unceremoniously drops the pile on the desk next to a very sleepy-looking kid. He barely even blinks at the loud thud.  _ Children need naps _ , Bard thinks.

There’s a knock at the door, and as Sebastian enters the room with tea and snacks, Bard looks back at the earl.

Something about his expression looks a little bit more awake and put together. Bard would call it  _ battle-ready _ , if the kid wasn’t clearly incapable of fighting anything bigger than a  _ mouse _ .

“Wise” is not a word Bard would  _ ever  _ use to describe the young master, but he seems bright enough to be distrustful of the creepy nanny-sized threat that refuses to leave his side.

* * *

Baldroy wakes up to screams and a feeling of indicible  _ wrongness _ . Without thinking, he immediately leaves his quarters, and ends up wandering the halls until he’s near the earl’s room. Bard doesn’t think the boy ever stopped shouting.

He doesn’t know why he’s there. There’s nothing he can do- or at least nothing he will do.

So he just stands there and watches the door until the screaming miraculously stops. He tries to leave, but there’s some kind of irrational worry clawing at the edges of his mind, so he stays close enough.

He can hear the young master’s sobs quieting down, too. There are a few minutes of silence before Bard hears the door creak. Out of concern, he goes to look, but instead of the boy, he finds Sebastian there.

What he sees written all over the butler’s face is- it’s  _ surprising _ .

There’s something fragile and worn, a breath away from breaking, bubbling under the surface but ready to cool down in a second.

It never leaves, even as Sebastian sighs and blows out his candle. His steps are slow and uneven as he leaves.

From there, Bard notices a shift.

* * *

Bard is having a weird day.

He’s trying to find Finnian (that airhead somehow managed to forget his watering can in the kitchen) when he hears a yell.

“Put me down already!”

The young master is currently yelling and kicking the air (though his feet aren’t really doing much) and pretending not to enjoy the height as Mey-Rin lifts him high in the air, laughing enough for two, since the earl seems to refuse to be honest. That is not what catches Bard’s eye, though.

He sees a familiar figure dressed in all black, watching. Oddly still.

Bard’s gaze travels all the way up to his face.

There’s something in those eyes, shaky and brittle. Something he would describe as longing (if it were anyone else, anyone but  _ him- _ ), immediately followed by surprise- but the careful mask is still in place, so it reads as his usual concealed contempt. Bard knows better. When Sebastian finds something distasteful, no matter how much he cares about appearances, the butler looks away- as if he cannot  _ bear  _ the sight of whatever unruly, imperfect, disorderly thing is offending him.

In this moment though, his gaze never strays from the scene in front of him.

Then and there, Baldroy definitely sees Sebastian Michaelis  _ yearn _ , and suddenly he does not know anything about him anymore.


End file.
